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John Shakespeare – RIP

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D. D. Degg Published: June 11, 2025 Updated: June 11, 2025 1 minute 0 comments

Sydney Morning Herald cartoonist John Shakespeare has passed away.

The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) broke the sad news (or here):

John Shakespeare, one of Australia’s most loved newspaper artists, died on Monday evening of cancer. He was 63.

“Shakes” worked at the Herald for 39 years before taking a voluntary redundancy last year. His shy smile and boundless kindness were woven into the fabric of the newsroom, and his loss will be felt deeply by generations of artists, journalists and photographers.

“John Shakespeare was a master of his craft and a beautiful friend and colleague. We are all devastated by this loss,” said the Herald’s editor, Bevan Shields.

A very brief look at the career of Shakespeare from the New South Wales State Library:

John Shakespeare (1961-) is a Sydney-based cartoonist, caricaturist and illustrator for The Sydney Morning Herald. His first job was as a cadet at the Courier Mail. He moved to Sydney in 1985 and started at Fairfax’s Sydney Sun newspaper; when the Sun closed down 18 months later, he joined the Sydney Morning Herald. He won a Stanley Award for caricature in 1992, and the Walkley Award for best illustration in 1995 for a Sydney Morning Herald cartoon of John Howard.

Back to The Sydney Morning Herald:

For 15 years, Shakespeare illustrated Peter FitzSimons’ column The Fitz Files. “There have been many loved figures at the Herald in the four decades I have been there – none more universally loved than Johnny Shakespeare,” FitzSimons said. “The man himself is just like his art; bright, cheery, upbeat, warm. He knows everyone, and everyone knows him.”

Peter FitzSimons, SMH columnist, interviewed John last month (or here):

JS: I think to be good at anything you need to be a bit obsessive (or passionate about something). I’m obsessive, so I had that ability to do repetitive practising without getting bored. The more you practise, the better you get, and soon people were noticing, and that fuelled my confidence.

Fitz: Who or what were your major influences?

JS: Early childhood days, Mad magazine of course, and all the superhero comics. Later years: Alan Moir, John Spooner, Patrick Cook, Leunig.

The Sydney Morning Herald presents a small gallery of selected John Shakespeare’s cartoons (or here).

Hundreds (thousands?) more cartoons are at John Shakespeare’s Facebook page.